Ole Miss panel recommends education, not punishment of athletes

Oct. 4, 2013
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by Daniel Uthman and Dan Wolken, USA TODAY Sports

by Daniel Uthman and Dan Wolken, USA TODAY Sports

Reinforcing a sentiment expressed Thursday to USA TODAY Sports by a cast member of the Ole Miss production of The Laramie Project, the university's Bias Incident Response Team has recommended education, not punishment, for the athletes and attendees who disrupted the play Tuesday night.

University of Mississippi officials apologized Thursday for the behavior of a group of freshman athletes who were were among an audience that used gay slurs and other disparaging comments in verbally harassing student actors during the production. Ole Miss Chancellor Dan Jones and Athletics Director Ross Bjork issued a joint statement pledging and investigation of the incident and to work with the response team to address the matter.

"It is clear that some students badly misrepresented the culture of this university," they said in their statement.

The play is based on the murder of Matthew Shepard, a University of Wyoming student who was killed in 1998 due to his sexual orientation. The incident was first reported by The Daily Mississippian, an Ole Miss student paper.

In a statement Friday, the response team said, "The task of identifying specific individuals who were purported to have disrupted the performance is difficult because of the dark theatre, and initial reports vary in regard to the frequency, volume and source of the comments or disruption. Although initial reports indicate that student-athletes led the action, it is important to note that this has not been verified and they were not the only students present. Reports indicate that comments were made by student athletes and students but no report has singled out a specific student or mentioned any names."

Garrison Gibbons, a 20-year-old acting major who was in the play, told USA TODAY Sports on Thursday that the atmosphere at Tuesday's performance was "radically different" from other performances and that actors had heard gay slurs from the audience and laughter at moments in the play that weren't intended to be funny, including a funeral scene.

"They were laughing at lines that spoke in negative ways about gay people," Gibbons said.

Gibbons added that he felt "an incredible amount of judgment and laughter" while delivering a monologue in the play in which his character comes out as gay, including audience members taking pictures of him with their iPhones, which he said "appalled" him. He said the cast was later told after the play's second act that the football players and other athletes in the audience were going to apologize after the show.

Gibbons said he did not want athletes to be suspended for games but rather to learn lessons and help create a better atmosphere for gay students on campus.

In a move that echoes Gibbons' feelings, the response team Friday recommended the following:

Given the conflicting reports and the wishes of the actors and crew, BIRT wants to address and educate every student in attendance at Tuesday evening's performance; therefore all students in attendance of The Laramie Project on October 1 are required to attend an educational dialogue session led by University faculty and Allies. Cast members are invited to participate as well. The dialogue will seek to repair the harm that was done to the affected community.

The BIRT will support the continued efforts of The Department of Athletics to foster an environment of diversity and inclusion such as their partnership with the William Winter Institute in hosting racial reconciliation week, October 7-11 and their continued support of the LGBTQ Community.

The University Counseling Center and other diversity-based resources groups will continue to provide counseling and support to students who may be in need of counseling after the public acknowledgement of the reported incident.

The University leadership encourages faculty, staff, students, and community members to fully support our LGBTQ community by attending and supporting PRIDE week activities.